"The Ghost Who Walks" has made his way to high definition thanks to some help from Lionsgate. Billy Zane stars as the title character in this adaptation of the classic comic strip.
The legend of The Phantom goes back many generations to the 1500's when a young boy survives a pirate attack and finds himself alive on the mysterious island of Bengalla. There, he is saved by the indigenous people called the Bangar Pygmies, who help him focus his skills to fight evil, injustice, greed and piracy. Using a jungle idol as his inspiration, he becomes the first Phantom. For the next 20 generations, the title of The Phantom is passed along from father to son, leading to the 21st Phantom, Kit Walker (played by Billy Zane).
In the film, The Phantom must stop the ruthless Xander Drax from acquiring the Skulls of Touganda, which will grant the user untold power. When the first of the three skulls is stolen, Kit Walker must travel to New York to stop Xander from finding the other skulls and using them for evil. Along the way he is reunited with his old love Diana Palmer (Kristy Swanson), a journalist who is investigating Drax. Palmer is kidnapped by Sala (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a female air-pirate who becomes infatuated with The Phantom, and a man named Quill, who Kit learns has a connection to the death of his father, the previous Phantom. Can Kit save the girl, avenge his father's murder and stop evil from threatening the world?
Billy Zane does an admirable job in the title role, but overall fails to captivate the audience in the way that other heroes have. Treat Williams is pretty bland in the role of Xander Drax. For someone who is ready to unleash a weapon of doom upon the world, he just seems to phone in the performance. Ironically, the most memorable characters in the film are in the supporting cast. The stand out performance really goes to Catherine Zeta-Jones, who makes the most of her small role. Her charisma helps this character to thrive despite having very little to work with. Additionally, Kristy Swanson as Diana Palmer does a pretty good job as the damsel in distress.
One of the most memorable things about this film's original release was the promotional campaign at 7-11. Every time someone purchased a slurpee, they would receive their very own Phantom ring. I think this was a great marketing idea to help hype the movie and get kids interested in the hero. I was pretty young when the movie came out and I had never heard of The Phantom before, but after I saw the images and got a cool metal skull ring, I was definitely more interested.
Special Features:
-Theatrical Trailer
-1080p Video
-English 7.1 DTS-HD Audio
The release doesn't have any special features, but the transfer to 1080p is very clean. The special effects, however, don't make the transition as neatly as the footage, adding to the overall chessiness of the movie.
Overall:
As great of a concept as the film was, The Phantom just doesn't fit in amongst other superhero films. If nothing else, it is a fun B-movie and is a great addition to fan's collections. The Phantom as a comic-strip has been running since the late 1930's and has a vast history to pull from. While the film focuses on the origins of the character, I feel that if the origin of the first Phantom was elaborated on in the beginning of the film, or if the story established more of a connection to Walker's father, then the generational aspect would have been much more interesting. There was great potential to focus on the father/son aspect of the character, but as a B-story it was just a motive for revenge against a supporting character. The Phantom is currently being developed as a new ongoing series by Syfy Channel and takes place in a dystopian future and focuses on the next generation's Phantom. This would be a good starting place for any true fans of the character.
ComicsOnline gives The Phantom 2.5 out of 5 90's movies being released on Blu-ray.
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